


Reaching Out, Touching Me, Touching You

by All_Might_Ships_EraserMic



Category: Helluva Boss (Web Series)
Genre: Blitzo cares, Cuddling, Fluff, Grooming, Love, M/M, Stella is a jerk, Sweet, feathers - Freeform, owl - Freeform, preening
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-27
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-18 11:48:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29733426
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/All_Might_Ships_EraserMic/pseuds/All_Might_Ships_EraserMic
Summary: Stolas hasn’t been able to preen sufficiently in quite awhile, since Stella refuses to do it for him anymore. Blitzo offers to help.I did a ton of research on preening and owls for this, so hopefully it's pretty accurate. Warning for slight mention of blood, but it's nothing gory or explicit.
Relationships: Blitzo/Stolas Goetia
Comments: 3
Kudos: 104





	Reaching Out, Touching Me, Touching You

Stolas flinched as his wife walked up behind him at the kitchen table and casually ripped a feather out of the back of his head. “Getting scruffy, aren’t you?”

Flicking the feather away, Stella left, a smug grin on her face. She wasn’t wrong; Stolas’s feathers were filthy and in disarray. It was beyond uncomfortable, and simply fluffing himself out was no longer helping. 

Ever since discovering his relationship with Blitzo, Stella had stopped helping Stolas preen. She had also thrown out all of the combs and long brushes that Stolas would have used to do it himself, with the clear threat of destroying any new supplies he could buy. 

Beyond being left with no options for doing it himself, it also tortured Stolas to be missing the emotional side of the activity. He and Stella had never really loved each other, but one of the only intimate things that they had still done after Octavia’s birth was helping each other preen. It helped Stolas to feel that they could at least be friends, but now there was nothing between them but tension. 

Stolas knew that the lack of vital maintenance was making him irritable, and he was extra careful to keep himself in check while wishing his daughter farewell for the day. Then he eased himself up and went to draw a bath; it wouldn’t help truly clean his feathers, but it would ease the discomfort somewhat. 

The owl demon’s phone buzzed and he smiled- he’d forgotten Blitzo was coming over today! Stolas’s subject of adoration usually helped him feel wonderful, but Stolas almost found himself reaching out to cancel their plans as his smile faded. Would Blitzo be disgusted by his unkept appearance? But it was too late to cancel; Blitzo was already almost there. Stolas sighed and got himself out of the bath; knowing Blitzo, he might not even notice the changes. 

That’s what made it all the more shocking when Blitzo’s eyes widened and he blurted out,

“You look awful!”

Stolas looked away as Blitzo got closer, ashamed. “I hoped that you would not notice.”

“I’m not blind.” Blitzo hopped up onto the bed beside Stolas. “Last time I was here you looked fine. Soooo what happened?”

Suddenly feeling very small, Stolas shrugged. “Part of my punishment for loving you I suppose.”

“Oh.” 

Blitzo grew still, and the two sat in silence for a long moment. 

“Can I help?” 

“I- yes. Yes, of course you can!” Stolas’s heart soared with happiness, and he gently pulled Blitzo into his lap, letting his loose robe slip off of his shoulders. Blitzo’s nimble fingers quickly pulled the garment off the rest of the way, and the imp’s hands hesitated over his partner’s bare chest. 

“So how do I do this?”

Blitzo face warmed as he allowed Stolas to guide his hands, sinking them into his soft plumage. “Use your claws to find my feather sheaths- they should feel hard and stick out a bit from the surrounding areas where I’ve managed to remove them myself. Any loose or broken feathers can be pulled out as well.”

Stolas paused and snapped his fingers, using magic to make a small jar of preening dust float to him from the bedside table drawer. “Try to work this in as you go. I have a lot of trouble reaching parts of my head and back.” Seeing that Blitzo still looked nervous, Stolas planted kisses along the base of his horns. “Thank you.”

Blitzo’s nervousness eased somewhat, and he dipped his hands into the powder. “So you said that you can’t reach your back, should I start there?”

“A good plan.” Stolas shifted to lay down in the middle of the bed, and Blitzo moved to straddle his lower back. The imp started working at the nape of Stolas’s neck and worked his way down his partner’s back.

Stolas felt himself relax completely, carried away by the immense relief already sweeping over him in a wave. The goetia flinched when Blitzo pulled out a stubborn broken pin feather, and regretted it when Blitzo paused. “Is this hurting you?”

“It’s a good kind of pain. Normally it doesn’t hurt much, but I’m supposed to preen multiple times a day. My wife… she stopped helping me and threw out my supplies. So I haven’t gotten a proper clean in about three weeks.”

Blitzo grunted and resumed his work, now slower and more careful. Then he sucked in a breath, and Stolas felt a brief sting midway down his back, followed by blooming warmth. 

“You’re bleeding a bit.”

“Not to worry, it’s expected with broken feather sheaths. There are towels in the the- ah-”

“I’ve got a different idea.”

Blitzo suddenly bent, and Stolas felt the imp’s mouth close over the wound, sucking away the blood and licking over the wound with his tongue. It was a surreal sensation; Stolas was sure it should have hurt, but it actually felt… good?

Stolas could barely suppress a moan as Blitzo continued moving his mouth over the wound for a long moment. He gasped when Blitzo finally pulled away and the warmth along his back rapidly cooled. 

“If you didn’t like that, I can go grab a towel.”

Stolas reached his arms back and dug his fingers into Blitzo’s hips. “Don’t you dare stop.”

Gleefully, Blitzo obeyed. 

Hours later, the top sheet of Stolas’s bed, ruined with a mess of discarded feathers and powder, had been ripped off the bed and thrown carelessly on the floor.

Tangled up in the remaining sheets, Blitzo and Stolas lay curled up in each others arms. 

Stolas felt worlds better, and it was all thanks to Blitzo. 

“What did I do to deserve such a treasure like you?”

Blitzo rolled his eyes good naturedly and kissed the closest part of Stolas that he could reach, his collarbone. “Don’t mention it.”

“No really- you don’t understand how vital this was for me. Missing out on preening makes demons like me very unhealthy. More than that, I… I need this kind of closeness with another. Losing the experience felt absolutely torturous.”

“I liked helping you, and if it’s that important- would you like me to do this more often?”

Stolas grinned. “I would love that! But you aren’t obligated to help just because of our arrangement.”

“Hah, you still think I come over just because of the book?”

Blitzo pulled Stolas in for a kiss, lacing his fingers across the back of the owl demon’s head. 

“I love you, bird brain.”


End file.
